In a conventional process for manufacturing a cathode ray tube (“CRT”) monitor, an integrated tube component (“ITC”) is assembled. The ITC includes a CRT, a deflection yoke (“DY”), and typically one or more magnets or permalloy components. The construction and operation of CRTs and DYs are well known in the art. In manufacturing, the DY is mounted on the CRT. The location where an electron strikes the front panel of the CRT is referred to as “landing position.” For desirable performance of the monitor and image quality, electrons in the CRT should have landing positions within defined locations or regions, such as phosphor stripes on the front panel of the CRT. The position of the DY is adjusted during the assembly process as needed, to adjust the landing position of electrons in the CRT. The DY is then fixed in place on the CRT.
In addition to striking desired locations in the CRT, electrons should strike at desired times to provide unified dots of color in the image. When the electrons forming the colors of a dot do not strike the phosphor of the panel within the correct time frames, the colors may not blend properly resulting in a undesirable image. This timing problem is referred to as “misconvergence.” Timing synchronization is referred to as “convergence.” Proper convergence provides a desirable image. Accordingly, magnets can be applied to the CRT, as needed, to adjust convergence in the CRT. In another process, convergence circuitry in the CRT-DY assembly can be employed to adjust convergence using internal data register control. While convergence can be controlled by the CRT-DY assembly, there may be differences between specific CRT-DY assemblies in their performance relative to specified tolerances. For example, variations in material composition or component construction may cause these differences. The above techniques can be used to compensate for these differences and correct the convergence of the monitor.
Additional adjustments can be made during assembly, including adjusting the geometry of the electron beam and adjusting the white balance of the display.
As recognized herein, in conventional assembly processes, information about the adjustments made along the assembly line is not immediately made available to other members of the assembly team. Instead, adjustment data ordinarily is entered manually into a database post-adjustment, at the end of the assembly process. This means that information regarding a potentially defective lot of a particular component or potentially defective (or particularly effective) assembly techniques may be based on a small sample and moreover are not made available to supervisory personnel for potentially lengthy periods of time, preventing the rapid correction of problems by assembly line managers and/or component vendors.